Switch



March 17, 1931. J DESMQND 1,796,361

SWITCH Filed March 11, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y j i227 Ji /7171i.

March 17, 1931. DESMQND 1,796,361

. I SWITCH Filed Mar ch 11, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 17, 1931UNITED STATES JOHN J'. IDESMOND', OF HUBBARD WOODS,

PATENT OFFICE ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO LINEMATERIAL COMPANY, OF SOUTH MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A COR- PORATION OFDELAWARE SWITCH Application filed March 11, 1929. Serial No. 346,092.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inswitches and refers more particularly to remote control air breakswitches.

Switches of this nature are usually mounted on overhead structures andare therefore very often subjected to severe weather conditions, and inthe past great difficulty has been experienced in protecting thecontacts against sleet and ice to insure free operation and perfectcontact at all times. Sleet hoods have been provided which have more orless protected the contacts while engaged, but adequate means forprotecting the movable switch elements or blades when in open positionhave not been devised. I

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide protecting meansfor the blade of the movable switch member which is engageable therewithwhen in full open position to protect the same against the elements.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of aprotecting hood for the blade of the movable switch member which hasmeans engaging the blade in a manner similar to the contact clips of thestationary contact to prevent oxidation of the contact surface of theblade, to at all times keep the same clean.

And a further object of this invention resides in the provision of aprotecting hood for the blade of the movable switch member when in openposition which has means for engaging the contact surfaces of the bladeto prevent oxidation thereof and which means are so mounted as toaccommodate any misalignment of the blade.

With the above and other objects in View which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it beingunderstood that such changes in the precise embodiment of thehereindisclosed invention may be made as .come Within the scope of theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one complete example ofthe physical embodiment of my invention constructed according to thebest mode I have so far devised for the practical application of theprinciples thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a switch of the character describedembodying my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail View of the movable protecting hood withparts broken away and in section to illustrate structural details, and

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken through Figure 2 on the planeof the line Peferring now more particularly to the accompanying drawingsin which like numerals designate like parts throughout the severalviews, the numeral 5 represents the base or support of one unit of adisconnecting switch and which usually forms part ofthe supportingstructure, not shown. Two or three units are usually mounted-side byside to be opened and closed simultaneously, but as the several unitsare identical in construction, only one has been shown and thedescription will therefore be in the singular.

Insulator standards 6 and 7 extend up- Wardly from the base 5 to mountsupporting insulators 8 and 9, respectively. The supporting insulator 9carries at its upper end a stationary contact 10 which is ofconventional design, having contact clips 11 and means for anchoring theadjacent end of a line conductor 12, which is electrically connectedwith the blades 11 in any suitable manner.

Engageable between the blades 11 of the stationary contact 10 is theblade 18 of a movable switch member 14 including a blade support 15fixed on an insulator 16 carried by a mounting member 17 which issecured to a square shaft 18. The square shaft 18 is rotatably mountedby suitable bearing members 19 and is adapted to be oscillated by meansof a handle 20 pivotally connected with the outer free end of a v lever21 fixed to the shaft so that actuation The switch blade 13 iselectrically connected with a second line conductor 22 by means of aflexible conductor 23 one end of which is fixed to the blade, as at 24,and the other end of which is impinged between an anchor member 25 and aclamp plate 26. The adjacent end of the line conductor 22 which issecurely clamped to the member 25, as at 27, is electrically connectedwith the adjacent end of the flexible condi'i'cto'r through a terminalmember '28 directly engaged with the clamping plate 26. The member 25 isfixed to the insulator S and the flexible conductor 23 is held out ofcontact with the supporting structure when the switch is in either ofits positions by link members 29 and 30 pivotally connected, as at 31,and having their free ends respectively connected with the member 25, asat 32, and with a movable switch member carried part 15, as at 38. Eachlink member consists of a pair of flat strips maintained in spacedparallel relation by the members 25 and 15 and by suitable spacers (notshown) located at the point of pivotal connection 31 and at points 34and in the links 29 and 30, respectively, the flexible conductor beingpositioned between the spaced strips of the links and passing over thespacers (not shown) located at the points 3% and 35.

tVhen the switch member iis in closed position and its blade 13 isreceived between the contact clips 11, it is protected againstoxidation, and is protected against sleet and the like by a protectinghood 86 carried by the cont-act member 10 and having its open sidesubstantially closed by a vpivotally mounted closure 3-7, which isfreely movable out of the path of the blade 13 as it is engaged ordisengaged with the stationary contact. This thoroughly protects thecontacts while in closed position and when the movable switch member ismoved to its full open position, as illustrated in dotted lines inFigure l,'the blade 13 is protected against the elements bye-secondprotecting hood 38 which is mounted between the outer ends of a pair oflink members pivoted at a medial point to the link members 30, at thepoint 35, and ,pivotally connected at their inner ends with a secondpair of links 40, as at ll, the free ends of the links l-0 beingconnected with the links 29., at the .point The arrangement of the links29, 30, 39 and 10 thus constitutes substantially a pantograph which isso arranged that when a switch member is moved to its full open positionthe protecting hood 38 is moved into engagement with the blade 13.

The :protecting hood 38 is preferably formed of bendable metal and itsrectangular shaped sides 42 are connected across the top by a wall t3and across the forward side by a wall 44, the width of-the hood beingsubstantially equal to the distance between the links 39 and the sides42 being riveted thereto, as at 5. Mounted within the hood is a pair ofclip members 46 which have lugs 47 medially secured thereto to extendthrougl'i aligned openings .48 in th side walls E2 of the hood memberwith expansive springs 19 mounted thereon and confined between the clipmembers and the walls of the hood. The springs 49 normally maintain theclip members 920 in engagement with each other and thus preventoxidation of their contact surfaces. Pivotal movc ment of the clipmembers about their studs 47 is prevented by a pin 50 which extendsthrough aligned apertures in the links lf), the side walls 42 of thehood and the inner portions of the clip members, being retained againstlongitudinal movement by cotter pins 51 or the like ateach'end of thepin.

As the movable switch member 14: is moved to its full open position, themovement of the arms 39 due to the pantograph action of the link membersis such that the hood member 5-38 is raised considerably above the bladeuntil the last few degrees of the closing movement, during which it israpidly moved downward towards the blade to engage the clip members 46therewith. The

forward or lower portions of the clip mem- 9 bers are preferably flared,as at 5-2, to guide the blade 13 therebetween and inasmuch as themembers it are substantially floatingly mounted they are free toaccommodate any misalignment of the blade 13 to insure a firm contacttherewith to prevent oxidation of the blade while the switch member isin its open position.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art towhich an invention of this character appcrtains that I have providednovel means for protecting the movable switch blade of switches of thecharacter described against oxidation when in either contact making oropen position and wherein the means for protecting the blade when inopen position is mounted so that its open sides face downwardly duringboth positions.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a switch, a contact member, a switch member movable into and outof contact therewith, a stationary protecting hood covering the switchmember and the contact when engaged, movable protecting means remotefrom the switch member when the same is engaged with the contact memberand engageable with the switch member when the same is moved to its openposition, and means mounting the protecting means in a manneraccommodating any misalignment of the switch member.

2. In a switch, a stationary contact, a switch member movable to andfrom engagement with'the stationary contact, a protecting hood, meansmounting the protecting hood whereby it is positioned remote from theswitch member when the same is engaged with the stationary contact andcovers the switch member when it is moved to full open position, andmeans carried by said protect ing hood and snugly engaging the switchmember to prevent oxidation of the switch member.

3. In a switch, a stationary contact including a yieldable contact clip,a switch member movable to and from closed position and adapted to beengaged by said contact clip when in closed position whereby oxidationof the switch member is prevented while in closed position, a protectinghood, means mounting the protecting hood whereby it protects the movableswitch member when the same is in open position, and means carried bythe protecting hood having a firm engagement with the contact surface ofsaid movable switch member whereby oxidation of the switch member isprevented while in open position.

4:. In a switch, a stationary contact, a movable switch member having ablade adapted to be engaged and disengaged from said stationary contact,a protecting hood, yieldably separable clip members carried by theprotecting hood, and means mounting the protecting hood whereby it isdisposed I over said movable switch blade when the movable switch memberis in its open position, the yieldably separable clip members of theprotecting hood firmly engaging the blade to prevent oxidation thereof.

5. In a switch, a stationary contact, a switch member movable to andfrom engagement with said stationary contact, a support, link membersconnecting the support and the movable switch member, and

4 a protecting hood carried by said link mem bers whereby the protectinghood is movable relative to and over the switch member when moved tofull open position.

6. In a switch, a stationary contact, a switch member movable to andfrom closed position and engaging the stationary contact when in saidclosed position, a support, link members connecting the movable switchmember with the support, a protecting hood carried by said link memberswhereby the open sides of the protecting hood face downwardly duringboth open and closed positions of the switch member and whereby theprotecting hood moves relative to and over the movable switch memberwhen the same is moved to full open position.

7. In a switch, a stationary contact, a switch member movable to andfrom closed position and engaging the stationary contact when in saidclosed position,a support, link members connecting the movable switchmember with the support, a protecting hood carried by said link memberswhereby the open sides of the protecting hood face downwardly duringboth open and closed positions of the switch member and whereby the hoodprotects the movable switch member when the same is moved to full openposition, and freely movable clip members carried by the protecting hoodand engageable with the contact portion of the movable switch member toprevent oxidation thereof, said clip means being yieldably urged toengagement with said movable switch member portion. v

8. In a switch, a stationary contact, a movable switch member having ablade adapted to be engaged and disengaged from the stationary contact,yieldably separable clip members, and means movably mounting theyieldably separable clip members whereby they move toward and areengaged with the switch blade as the movable switch member is moved toopen position, the clip members firmly engaging the blade to preventoxidation thereof.

9. In a switch, a stationary contact, a movable switch member having ablade adapted to be engaged and disengaged from the stationary contact,clip members, means normally yieldably maintaining the clip members inengagement with each other to keep their contact faces clean, and meansmovably mounting the clip members whereby they move toward and areengaged with the switch blade as the movable switch member is moved toopen position, the switch blade coming to rest with the clean faces ofthe clip members firmly engaging its opposite sides to keep the switchblade clean while. the movable switch member is in open position.

10. In a switch, a stationary contact, a switch member movable to andfrom engagement with said stationary contact, a

support, link members connecting the support and the movable switchmember, clip members, and means mounting the clip members from one ofthe link members whereby they are movable to engagement with the switchmember when it is moved to full open position, to protect the switchmember against oxidation.

11. In a switch, a stationary contact, a movable switch member having ablade adapted to be engaged and disengaged from the stationary contact,yieldably separable clip members, means movably mounting the yieldablyseparable clip members whereby they move toward and are engaged with theswitch blade as the movable switch member is moved to open position toprevent oxidation of the blade, and means whereby the yieldablyseparable clip members are free to adjust themselves to the switch bladeto insure a perfect contact between the sides of the switch blade andthe clip members.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aiiixed my signature.

JOHN J. DESMOND.

